Here's a summary of a new study which shows that guys who smelled t-shirts of ovulating girls had higher testosterone levels than those who smelled unworn t-shirts or those worn by non-ovulating girls. You can find the full article free here. A guy's testosterone level rose as the girl who'd worn the t-shirt came closer to ovulation, and the level fell as she passed ovulation. The same rising-and-falling pattern in tandem with time to ovulation was seen for the guy's subjective evaluation of how pleasant it smelled.
More news you can use: keep your T-level from falling by making sure there are lots of young girls around you. Those used in the study were 18-19 for one experiment, and 18-21 for another. During the mid-20s, these olfactory cues nearly shut off, which makes sense given that she's not expected to be in the mating market anymore but rather to be raising her kids. No science there other than my own experience and the power of my sense of smell (and supporting theory).
Because evolutionary psychology is still a sexy new discipline, many older results bearing on their topics are just not well known. This happens in academia in general because theories go through fashion cycles, and competitive pressures to find out the truth aren't as strong as they should be. The list of references of the above article hardly has anything before the late '80s, which is when evolutionary psychology started marketing itself as something different from sociobiology.
Unfortunately that means the authors missed this key supporting study from way, way back in 1975 -- although it was published in Science, one of the two major academic journals, along with Nature. In brief, they found that men rated the scent of vaginal secretions from the ovulatory phase of a girl's menstrual cycle as better than those from other phases. Clearly there aren't enough well-read perverts among the peer reviewers for Psychological Science.
If evolutionary psychologists were as daring as they make themselves out to be, they'd re-establish the neglected "wet panties" experiment rather than crank out yet another "sweaty t-shirt" experiment.
"During the mid-20s, these olfactory cues nearly shut off, which makes sense given that she's not expected to be in the mating market anymore but rather to be raising her kids. No science there other than my own experience and the power of my sense of smell (and supporting theory)."
ReplyDeleteNot to criticise your sense of smell. But, just because something is no longer needed doesn't mean that evolution is always careful enough to get rid of it.
I have nipples and I'm a man.
"well-read perverts"
ReplyDeleteI'm glad we have a "well read pervert" at work for us.
I wonder why male high school teachers aren't off the charts for testosterone.
ReplyDelete"I wonder why male high school teachers aren't off the charts for testosterone."
ReplyDeleteWho says they aren't? Especially relative to where they'd be otherwise.
This is a non-payed for testimonial for the agnostic age defying system, ahaha :)
ReplyDeleteHaving recently begun checking out young girls again (as in late teens to early 20s) it seems that my energy levels, aggressiveness/assertiveness, and libido have all taken a big hike. As if by considering the possibility... your body starts pumping out the testosterone to make yourself competitive.
I've also been eating a lot more eggs, meat and cheese (sat fats) and getting more vitamin D (either through sunlight or supplementation) which are precursor for testosterone production. I believe each factor is stoking the other.
I've never been low libido, or unhealthy per se, but I noticed a gradual drop off since the teenage years. Now I'm feeling as randy as I did as a teenager if not more so. It's almost too much :D
Haha, this is great news considering I play in a few bands with teenage girls. I just spent Saturday afternoon shooting a hip-hop video with a bunch of teenagers.
ReplyDeleteAside from testosterone-related benefits, socially interacting with young people is just a good idea. It keeps you from getting old and out of touch, plus it's good social proof that you're "not too old" (especially if they're girls) for some college student to date.